Re: HOL for Microsoft Windows

captainxod · 05 June 2007, 12:39

From the HOL site:

**HOL for Microsoft Windows ™
A windows version of HOL database is currently in work,
It will be a win32 standalone application based on regularly online update.
This program will be released "when it's done", so please be patient

**

does anyone know approximately when it will be released?

Shoonay · 05 June 2007, 13:48

It's like that for a couple of years now

lostfriend · 05 June 2007, 15:24

just put all the info from HOL into MAGE, nothing more we need

captainxod · 06 June 2007, 01:15

2 years? well , I guess it isn't being done then.

How do I put all the info from HOL into MAGE, or are you jesting?

AmigaBoy · 06 June 2007, 01:25

MAGE is a frontend currently being developed by eLowar. There's been no releases as of yet as he's fairly busy.

The HOL offline project is pretty much dead. There's been no news on that front for years. If you want something similar, check out GBAmiga (gbamiga.elowar.com). It's basically HOL except it has the added advantage of allowing you to actually play the games too (ADFs, SPS images and WHDLoad releases from KG's packs).

As a sidenote, GBAmiga will (as far as I'm aware) become MAGE Amiga once MAGE is released.

Hope that helps

Shoonay · 06 June 2007, 01:29

There's also Lemonade that IIRC contains a few good details about various/many games.

AmigaBoy · 06 June 2007, 01:47

Lemonade had an opportunity to be the better frontend. Unfortunately, it's buggy and has had very few releases (one initial program release and 1 updated DB release if I recall). Kim claims it's going to have a DB update, but even if it does, there's no chance it can be on par with what GBAmiga has achieved thus far.

Additionally, GBAmiga is developed by Belgarath who is one of the HOL team while Lemonade is done by Kim, who's just an enthusiast. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd personally go for the one with ties to HOL

eLowar · 06 June 2007, 01:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason

As a sidenote, GBAmiga will (as far as I'm aware) become MAGE Amiga once MAGE is released.

That is correct. To explain the situation, the original MAGE project from back then sort of died (never officially, but what we're doing now has little to do with back then) of a messy concept and total lack of time at the time, it has only been re-born recently. WHDRun in the latest GBAmiga release marks the first little step in the transition, I'm currently generalizing it to be scriptable and intend it (under a different name) to be the general file runner and scripting component for the future MAGE (and other frontends in fact, there is some cooperation going on for a change

).

captainxod · 06 June 2007, 02:45

yes, I installed GBAmiga but it doesn't have a review section. That's what I like about HOL. It has multiple reviews for games (actual scans from mags), and all the necessary game information. Is there something similar for GBA?

Pyromania · 06 June 2007, 03:06

Google Gears allows you to have web apps offline, maybe a version of HOL could be created that supported that? Then it would be multiplatform as long as Firefox was being used.

http://code.google.com/apis/gears/?u...google%20gears

AmigaBoy · 06 June 2007, 03:08

Unfortunately not. The reviews are a new feature to HOL. They're linked from AMR which is another abime.net project (by Galaxy and Codetapper).
The reason why I don't see this sort of thing being integrated into GBAmiga in the near future is the priority at the moment would probably be to list everything and have a working and playable configuration for each game.
Maybe in the future? I really don't know. I'm just a GBAmiga user

Pyromania · 06 June 2007, 03:12

@Jason

I have never tried GBAmiga, I'll have to give it a go.

eLowar · 06 June 2007, 04:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason

Unfortunately not. The reviews are a new feature to HOL. They're linked from AMR which is another abime.net project (by Galaxy and Codetapper).
The reason why I don't see this sort of thing being integrated into GBAmiga in the near future is the priority at the moment would probably be to list everything and have a working and playable configuration for each game.
Maybe in the future? I really don't know. I'm just a GBAmiga user

Indeed the point is to have a nice browsable reference and working configurations for every game (along with a convenient way to start them). The point is not to combine all the information and files of the internet into a single offline resource. It's already big enough and hard enough to maintain as it is. Yes, the future will probably bring more features, but the simple fact is that offline resources can't ever fully replace or reflect live online resources.

I'm not sure there's all that much of a point in trying to make every online project offline anymore. Programs can just link to or integrate online resources as well. Admittedly, there is the issue of long term availability. Maybe the future will bring some reasonable hybrid solution (beyond the brute force solution of providing downloadable snapshops of whole online projects).

eLowar · 06 June 2007, 04:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pyromania

Google Gears allows you to have web apps offline, maybe a version of HOL could be created that supported that? Then it would be multiplatform as long as Firefox was being used.

http://code.google.com/apis/gears/?u...google%20gears

Hmm, I had a quick look, may be worth keeping an eye on.

It sounds much like it's just a more sophisticated version (with some actual control for the site owner, etc.) of the "Offline Pages" (or similar names) feature browsers have had for ages.

Belgarath · 06 June 2007, 12:11

GameBase does have a rating field and I did consider putting an average score taken from the amr reviews and putting it into GameBase, that is until I realised the scores would be horrendously inaccurate and some crap games would get high scores and vice versa, that's not a fault of amr though, there was just a lot of terrible reviewers

Eventually I'd like to be able to add user added scores, which although has it's own problems, if you get enough of them it generally reflects the quality of the games better.

On the whole I trust mag reviews as much as I trust KG in a banana plantation.

killergorilla · 06 June 2007, 12:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by Belgarath

On the whole I trust mag reviews as much as I trust KG in a banana plantation.

captainxod · 07 June 2007, 02:31

well it depends what journalist reviews the game. I find good reviews more enlightening than a simple 1-10 number. And judging by the "best such & such a game" threads, many gamers only seem knowledgeable of the more recent Amiga releases (AGA stuff). I wouldn't trust their opinions.

also, mag reviews are another form of nostalgia, and it would be convenient to have access to them through some offline application (I don't have a fast internet connection, and the pics take too long to display).

I understand that isn't GBA's premise, though. was just wondering if there was something else similar to what HOL offers. evidently, there isn't.

eLowar · 07 June 2007, 05:32

Keep in mind HOL itself doesn't even offer it (as in the reviews), it's AMR, which itself is still rather young and growing a lot. That's the power of online resources, they can just link to eachother.

As for offline use, I'm not sure many webmasters of scanned review places (including our own RCK for AMR) would appreciate the (considerable amounts of) extra traffic involved in people making full offline archives all the time. Tools like Google Gears help a little in that they make incremental updates clean and simple, but every user of the offline application still has to download the whole thing at least once (and an update automatically means large amounts of traffic too).

Maybe something like the snapshots Wikipedia (and other places) offers would be more feasable (as they can be hosted off-site). Incremental updates may be possible (depending on the capabilities of the host) with rsync or possibly simple patch packages.

It just seems like a lot of effort for something that would ultimately and primarily generate lots of traffic and result in even more data theft than we already have. Knowing people on the internet, a vast majority would probably just leech it because it's there and not because they actually want to use it, too (I'm not accusing anybody here of anything like that, I'm just saying that's what a lot of people are like).

Hmm, I'm sorry I'm ranting. I just woke up. I'll shut up now.

captainxod · 07 June 2007, 06:24

I was ignorant of all that. Thanks for helping me get with the program.

mai · 24 November 2009, 00:29

Is this project dead? (offline HOL database)

05 June 2007, 12:39	#1
captainxod Just another angry gamer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sydney/Australia Age: 44 Posts: 40	Re: HOL for Microsoft Windows From the HOL site: HOL for Microsoft Windows ™ A windows version of HOL database is currently in work, It will be a win32 standalone application based on regularly online update. This program will be released "when it's done", so please be patient does anyone know approximately when it will be released?

06 June 2007, 03:08	#11
AmigaBoy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 19 Jump Street Posts: 238	Unfortunately not. The reviews are a new feature to HOL. They're linked from AMR which is another abime.net project (by Galaxy and Codetapper). The reason why I don't see this sort of thing being integrated into GBAmiga in the near future is the priority at the moment would probably be to list everything and have a working and playable configuration for each game. Maybe in the future? I really don't know. I'm just a GBAmiga user Last edited by AmigaBoy; 06 June 2007 at 03:18. Reason: Corrected my fantastic Engrish

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05 June 2007, 13:48	#2
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,107	It's like that for a couple of years now

05 June 2007, 15:24	#3
lostfriend Zone Friend Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: the middle of germany Posts: 76	just put all the info from HOL into MAGE, nothing more we need

06 June 2007, 01:15	#4
captainxod Just another angry gamer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sydney/Australia Age: 44 Posts: 40	2 years? well , I guess it isn't being done then. How do I put all the info from HOL into MAGE, or are you jesting?

06 June 2007, 01:25	#5
AmigaBoy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 19 Jump Street Posts: 238	MAGE is a frontend currently being developed by eLowar. There's been no releases as of yet as he's fairly busy. The HOL offline project is pretty much dead. There's been no news on that front for years. If you want something similar, check out GBAmiga (gbamiga.elowar.com). It's basically HOL except it has the added advantage of allowing you to actually play the games too (ADFs, SPS images and WHDLoad releases from KG's packs). As a sidenote, GBAmiga will (as far as I'm aware) become MAGE Amiga once MAGE is released. Hope that helps

06 June 2007, 01:29	#6
Shoonay Global Caturator Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Porando Age: 43 Posts: 6,107	There's also Lemonade that IIRC contains a few good details about various/many games.

06 June 2007, 01:47	#7
AmigaBoy Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: 19 Jump Street Posts: 238	Lemonade had an opportunity to be the better frontend. Unfortunately, it's buggy and has had very few releases (one initial program release and 1 updated DB release if I recall). Kim claims it's going to have a DB update, but even if it does, there's no chance it can be on par with what GBAmiga has achieved thus far. Additionally, GBAmiga is developed by Belgarath who is one of the HOL team while Lemonade is done by Kim, who's just an enthusiast. Nothing wrong with that, but I'd personally go for the one with ties to HOL

06 June 2007, 02:45	#9
captainxod Just another angry gamer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sydney/Australia Age: 44 Posts: 40	yes, I installed GBAmiga but it doesn't have a review section. That's what I like about HOL. It has multiple reviews for games (actual scans from mags), and all the necessary game information. Is there something similar for GBA?

06 June 2007, 03:06	#10
Pyromania Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,386	Google Gears allows you to have web apps offline, maybe a version of HOL could be created that supported that? Then it would be multiplatform as long as Firefox was being used. http://code.google.com/apis/gears/?u...google%20gears

06 June 2007, 03:12	#12
Pyromania Moderator Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Chicago, IL Posts: 3,386	@Jason I have never tried GBAmiga, I'll have to give it a go.

06 June 2007, 12:11	#15
Belgarath HOL Team Member Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Manchester Posts: 2,526	GameBase does have a rating field and I did consider putting an average score taken from the amr reviews and putting it into GameBase, that is until I realised the scores would be horrendously inaccurate and some crap games would get high scores and vice versa, that's not a fault of amr though, there was just a lot of terrible reviewers Eventually I'd like to be able to add user added scores, which although has it's own problems, if you get enough of them it generally reflects the quality of the games better. On the whole I trust mag reviews as much as I trust KG in a banana plantation.

07 June 2007, 02:31	#17
captainxod Just another angry gamer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sydney/Australia Age: 44 Posts: 40	well it depends what journalist reviews the game. I find good reviews more enlightening than a simple 1-10 number. And judging by the "best such & such a game" threads, many gamers only seem knowledgeable of the more recent Amiga releases (AGA stuff). I wouldn't trust their opinions. also, mag reviews are another form of nostalgia, and it would be convenient to have access to them through some offline application (I don't have a fast internet connection, and the pics take too long to display). I understand that isn't GBA's premise, though. was just wondering if there was something else similar to what HOL offers. evidently, there isn't.

07 June 2007, 05:32	#18
eLowar Citizen of Elthesh Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: UK Posts: 949	Keep in mind HOL itself doesn't even offer it (as in the reviews), it's AMR, which itself is still rather young and growing a lot. That's the power of online resources, they can just link to eachother. As for offline use, I'm not sure many webmasters of scanned review places (including our own RCK for AMR) would appreciate the (considerable amounts of) extra traffic involved in people making full offline archives all the time. Tools like Google Gears help a little in that they make incremental updates clean and simple, but every user of the offline application still has to download the whole thing at least once (and an update automatically means large amounts of traffic too). Maybe something like the snapshots Wikipedia (and other places) offers would be more feasable (as they can be hosted off-site). Incremental updates may be possible (depending on the capabilities of the host) with rsync or possibly simple patch packages. It just seems like a lot of effort for something that would ultimately and primarily generate lots of traffic and result in even more data theft than we already have. Knowing people on the internet, a vast majority would probably just leech it because it's there and not because they actually want to use it, too (I'm not accusing anybody here of anything like that, I'm just saying that's what a lot of people are like). Hmm, I'm sorry I'm ranting. I just woke up. I'll shut up now.

07 June 2007, 06:24	#19
captainxod Just another angry gamer Join Date: May 2007 Location: Sydney/Australia Age: 44 Posts: 40	I was ignorant of all that. Thanks for helping me get with the program.

24 November 2009, 00:29	#20
mai Registered User Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Federativnaya Respublika Germaniya Posts: 4,994	Is this project dead? (offline HOL database)

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